Andrei puts a hex on me “You should lead Bonnie’s,” I tell Andrei. “I’m really careful pushing my leading limit,” he says. “Bonnie’s is cake,” I argue. “Plus you can put gear in wherever you want from practically a no-hands stance.” “I don’t know,” he shrugs, “I’ve always found it really awkward to clean gear… Read more »
Posts By: Dawn
Back on the sharp end
I had been saying and saying (and saying and saying) that I wanted my first lead of the season to be smooth and easy. No fear, no falling, no whining, no hanging, no backing off. So why the hell am I racking up for my old nemesis City Lights? After I finally led it cleanly… Read more »
The Worst Boulderers in the World
On a dreary Saturday Todd and I head out to find the bouldering mecca so frequently touted on Gunks.com: Ice Pond (ice, ice baby). We go “just to look” but bring our shoes and a chalk bag. We don’t bring a crashpad because we don’t own one. This turns out to be unfortunate when Todd… Read more »
Jean: The Life-Cycle of a Route
This is the story of a route at the Gunks named Jean, rated 5.9 because the 10c roof is so very short. Jean is typically climbed in four phases. In Phase I, the 5.9 leader climbs up to the roof wherein he encounters THE THING. THE THING used to be a Lowe Ball, or at… Read more »
Saturday & Sunday
Saturday, first thing (“first thing” being a relative term that in this case means approximately 10:30): We wander down from the Uberfall, looking for an open route under 5.10 and finally settle on a short wait for Birdie Party, the first pitch of which is 5.8 but scary 5.8. Todd’s jittery enough to place the… Read more »
Lyme Disease – A Climber’s Primer
I came home from the gym one night and found what I assumed was a chigger bite beneath the elastic of my sports bra. I’d heard about climbers getting chiggers at the Gunks. The bites–similar in appearance to a very large mosquito bite–are intensely itchy and appear in warm, moist, constricted areas. My bite hardly… Read more »
Armonk
On Sunday Todd and I went to a small crag with uncertain access in Armonk, NY. We climbed three routes on TR. I have no idea what the names or official ratings of these routes are. I rate them: too hard for a warmup, harder than that, and much too thin for such a cold… Read more »
Time Off
I’m cold and confused. I got up here OK, all those nice blocky things to put my feet on. But now, those ripples, surely one doesn’t put one’s feet on them? And the tree I slung, so far away from me, it must be six feet at least. I should put in gear but I… Read more »
GunksFest 2000
I was at the Gunks with a group of rec.climbers. See trip reports and photos from GunksFest 2000
Trapped Like a Rat–a love story begins
One day when I was feeling cocky and poised to start leading 5.9, I posited to Steven that there wasn’t a 5.7 at the Gunks that could scare me anymore. He recommended Trapped Like a Rat. Alas, the opportunity to prove him wrong didn’t present itself immediately and then came the dark days of my… Read more »